The Weaponsmith's Swords
by hano
Summary: Amano and Hibiki fatefully meet Setsuna in a resturnant


Life was as good as ever for Amano Hyo, sitting there in a good restaurant in a beautiful day with his beloved sword and Hibiki while drinking good saki, why would anyone ask for more? Travelling with Hibiki for the past three months was fun though a little tiring. Hibiki was young and pretty, but she was a little troubled. She was gloomy and always sulking thinking in something deep. Sure she was sad about her father, but how long will that keep up? Yet she was getting better and more cheerful.

As much as he entertained the thought of shagging this babe in bed, he knew she wasn't his type, she was too innocent, too inexperienced, too complicated, too polite, and she was too quite. In short, she was too sweet for him, he couldn't take advantage of that. Of course, there was the burden of taking care of her, he owed that to her father at least, they were friends after all.

Amano: "Hey Hibiki, why don't you try some of this soup, it's wonderful; eat up or your body won't develop properly". Hibiki clenched her fist; she was tired of him trying to look after her. "I'm full thank you". Amano : "Already? Have it your way". Amano looked at her and thought, "There she goes again, she has that blank look on her face". Her father was truly a good man, and he was a wild party dog too; it is unfortunate that he died, but he brought Hibiki up so well, strange how people can be so different from their parents.

Hibiki fixed her look outside looking at passing people in the street. She thought about her father. He was a good father, hardworking and loving, and she loved him dearly. But her father wasn't the most reliable of men, and he chose his friends accordingly. Every now and then Amano and sometimes Yoshitu-san or others would visit him after a long day of hard work, and he would go wild and would'nt come back till night, totally drunk. She always had to make sure that he didn't drink too much, that he ate well, and that he would not overexert himself at work. In many ways she was the one taking care of her father while he lived, not the other way around, and now that feeling is doubled in the case of Amano, she fixed his sword, she cooked, she made sure that he didn't drink too much or went with bad women. But she could always rely on Amano when she wanted to practice swinging her sword. His grip on his stick was very steady, his swing too powerful; he was very good. She crossed swords, or sticks, with him three months ago near Hell's gate. She knew that night that the silvered haired man and the sword her father made were there, but Amano the fool had to stop her. She did her best and managed to give him a few small cuts too; she was fighting for her father's spirit, but Amano's skill was too much for her. She was still bitter about that day, but in a way she was grateful because she has gotten better now and is more ready than ever to achieve her goal and fulfill her father's will. Her goal was to get her father's sword from the silver haired man.

Amano remembered, he didn't want to smack Hibiki hard on the head on that fateful night close to Hell's gate, but he had to stop her. The sounds of thunder, lightning, fire and the strikes of swords echoed from that place. He wasn't going to let Hibiki get involved in something that dangerous. Even now, she insists on him to teach her swordsmanship. He felt she shouldn't learn this stuff for two reasons. One, a pretty woman with a sword usually ends up a dead woman. Two, most people who walk around with swords end up unhappy. A sword was certainly not for Hibiki.

A cocky man came into the restaurant; he had silver hair and dark skin, was tall, handsome, confident and had an ugly silver owl on his soldier. It was most likely for impressing the chicks; Amano figured the guy was hungry for attention. The man sat down and asked for a drink, he had a smirk on his face. Amano felt there was something wrong with this man. He looked at Hibiki, her eyes were wide.

Hibiki: "That's him". Amano: "Him, who?". Hibiki: "The Dark Man who has the black sword". Amano "Oh ..?" He almost forgot that whole story, "Yes, so you want me to get your sword now?". Hibiki : " Wait, I should be able to do this, it's my duty". Amano: " heh heh.., how do you plan to do that?". Hibiki had a determined look " I will ask him to give it to me, I will trade my sword for it ". Amano grasped that sentence and then couldn't stop himself " Bwahahaha, yes, hahaha, that might actually work for once..Haha!".

That ticked Hibiki off, she left the table and thought JERK, the laughter was still going on behind her. She moved in as steadily as she could and quietly stood right behind the man, she was nervous. She opened her mouth and closed it, she was very nervous. The man quickly turned around and cut her short:" Are you planning on standing here all day long? What in Hades' name do you want? You're ruining my mood". Hibiki replied quickly: "I'm sorry!! Will you please trade swords with me? that sword was made by my father, I will give you anything for it!" Setsuna closed his eyes then smirked "Heh, and I thought you were a shy hooker looking for some pocket money".

Sestsuna was angered, this girl wanted to take something that was his, the pathetic human. He still hasn't finished his mission. He had a whole world to slay with his sword. And he still had unfinished business; sure he killed the man who claimed to be the messanger of hades, but failed his main objective, to kill the sealing maiden. He turned around and faced the pretty girl, "Listen you fool, not long ago, I just killed a boy much younger than you are, and I was happy to do it because it was Hades' will. He still hasn't chosen you, but I can make an exception and kill you for fun. Do not mess with death little girl, for I deliver death. Now be a good girl, run along and enjoy your pitiful life before I take it". Setsuna turned back on his seat ignoring Hibiki and continued to drink casually.

Hibiki felt disgust at what the man said, killing a little boy and enjoying it was unforgivable, and she knew the man was saying the truth. She could tell from the man's eyes that he had no repect for life. She stood there looking at the ground, she was shaking with anger, this man was evil and he didn't even care for her father's will. On top of that he talked about death so casually, and he was rude. He needed to learn some manners, she was going teach them to him.

Hibiki: " I will not leave until you give me my father's sword, I will cut you down if I have to". She was sincere in what she said. The next second felt like eternity, in a blur the man stood up and turned around, and in a flash he swung his sword in an overhead arch to cut her in half ,the sword was jet black. Her eyes were wide open, her mouth was agape, she never thought death could come so swiftly, she was going to die and she heard the murdurer screaming "DIE!".

The next second she was on the ground. She fell, it hurt, but it wasn't because she was in half, it was because she was pushed to the floor with force. She looked to see Amano in front of the evil man; he was standing in his cocky stance, with stick over shoulder. The silver haired man had a surprised look on his face; apparently, his attack was deflected by Amano.

Amano had a somewhat angry look, "You bastard, that was a bit too much don't you think?". Setsuna: "You will die small fry". The customers in the restaurant as well as the workers were all running outside in a stampede, one of them shouted: "call the authorities!" A few moments later, the restaurant was silent; all that could be heard was the sound of people in the neighboring street tending their daily business.

Amano looked around; this wasn't the ideal battleground for a swords fight. Sure the restaurant was big, but it was full of all kinds of wooden furniture, tables, chairs, plates. The customers escaped too and caused many of these tables and chairs to fall down. He also felt a mild effect of the little alcohol he drank. He usually drinks only after battle, but how could he have known that a fight would break loose in a resturant. Ah hell, he just had to finish this guy quickly. The bastard's bird flew off his shoulder picked up the sword helt which was handed by its master and stood on a nearby chair.

Amano could tell that this guy was gonna recklessly attack, the plan was to take advantage of that; this bastard just needed a little incentive. Amano took out his smoking pipe and started puffing, sure it wasn't lit but the bastard got the message anyways. The man angered by Amano's taunt attacked, flying forward while turning around in a horizontal spin, the sword swing was purple and electric, looks like the last sword Hibiki's father made was maybe even better than his, Amano thought with a tinge of jealousy.

Amano turned around quickly avoiding the swing, in a second he was behind the man and poked him with strength in his back with the cane. He then gripped the man by the arm and head butted him with full force. The man fell to the ground with a thud. That should do it, Amano smiled.

Hibiki looked on with admiration, that's where she admired Amano the most. His movements were so agile and his reflexes were unparalleled. He was so confident that he could keep that cocky attitude and turn it to his advantage. Amano was a master swordsman. But she didn't want him to do her job; at least part of her didn't want that. The other part was trembling with fear from that dark man.

Amano looked at her with a smile: "well peach, this is my way of getting what I want from men ". He winked at her. The dark man stood up, he kept his smirk, even though he was angry, his hair was a little messed.

Amano: "Back for more? You should have stayed down" Amano decided he would be the attacker now, but he was given no chance because the bastard ran and swung hard to cut his feet. Amano jumped up and readied his cane for a fierce swing at the damaged skull of this geek, but the villain stood there looking at him. And before Amano could connect the bastard grasped him by his Kimono's throat, Amano felt a chill through his body and then he was drove hard right into a table. As he felt the pain, but felt humiliation even more, for this was no way to treat Amano Hyo.

Amano stood up quickly from between the wreckage of the table he was in. trying to ignore his humiliation, after all, a lady was watching him fight. He thought it was time to impress Hibiki, he always fought harder when women were watching, so he picked the sakura petals he kept in his kimono for 'special effects' to win the hearts of the ladies, and then he punched in an uppercut his punch sent the nearby bastard flying back. The sakura petals fluttered in the air.

Hibiki looked on, the sight of Amano with the sakuras around him was so pretty and romantic as if from a fairy tale. He was brimming with confidence, his fist was raised above his head victoriously, he was smiling at her. However, she was suddenly alarmed because the evil man rolled forward in recovery and replied to Amano's uppercut with an uppercut of his own, only his uppercut was not as refined. He flew upward in the air and swung his sword in an ugly dark electric arch. The sight of Amano's blood was anything but pretty, all in all a sheer contrast from Amano's uppercut.

Amano was cut along his chest, as the dark sword made contact with his flesh, he felt as though his spirit left his body then reunited with it again. It was painful, but he felt more fear than pain. This sword wasn't a typical sword for sure.

Setsuna could smell the blood of his pray, now he wasn't going to stop. He had blood dripping from his mouth too; this asshole punched him hard, he was going to pay for that though. Then as he prepared to dash forward, he felt sharp pain in his back, AGAIN. he looked to find that the little runt had dug the scabbard of her sword into his lower back. The pain drove him to punch the girl hard in the face with the hilt of his sword.

Hibiki fell to the ground, her hand on the place of the punch. looked like she was bleeding, the pain was intense, tears came down her face unwillingly. She glared at the evil man, she had to stop him. She needed to help Amano, then defeat this man and retrieve her father's sword.

Setsuna yelled, "FOOLISH PEST, YOU WILL DIE AFTER I FINISH THIS!" When he turned to face his opponent he was met by a flurry of cane swings by the gay freak in the pink kimono. Setsuna managed to block some hits but some connected with his head, his chest and his shoulders. After the mad swinging stopped, Setsuna tried to take the initiative of attacking but as he prepared to strike he was poked on the chest and was sent tumbling backwards, he though "My bad, shouldn't drop my guard because he's fighting me with a stick". He lost his balance and fell on chairs and tables.

Amano looked at Hibiki with a stern look mixed with pain and anger "DON'T INTERFERE, this is a man's fight, MY FIGHT". Hibiki replied "He's dangerous, I can't let you fight him alone, you NEED help!" She had tears down her face. She yelled "I'M NOT WEAK. This is my fight, not yours".

Amano thought "Yare Yare!" that was corny, not that he minded corny stuff. In fact, he was all about being corny. The wide cut on his chest was bleeding, he was feeling a little shaken. It hurt, but not as much as his pride, especially after Hibiki felt he NEEDED help, from a teenage girl nonetheless! Amano Hyo was not gonna sit and do nothing, he was gonna finish this fight and restore his pride. He hated being embarrassed in front of the ladies.

Amano had a determined look, and began slowly removing his sword from its sheath, the cane it was buried in. Time for his Otokomae to fly and sing in the air. Amano didn't like to draw his sword, because whenever he did, it meant someone was going to die. He always drew to kill. He drew only when the situation was irresolvable by any other means. As he looked at his sword, painful memories flashed before his mind's eye; memories of a broken hearted woman cursing him for the loss of her beloved with tearful eyes. A young man shouting defeated bitter vows of vengeance for a lost brother.... All were painful memories he had to remember whenever he pulled this sword. As always, he had to ignore them, the task at hand was urgent; his life was on the balance.

Hibiki watched, and couldn't stop the fear that overcame her. She had never seen Amano pulling his sword before, it was a fine long sword. It had no curve, unlike other Japanese swords. It was the finest sword that her father had made, though she didn't know how good the black sword was. She was much younger when Amano's sword, Otokomae, was forged. She remembered waking up at midnight at the sound of anvil and hammer to see her father sweating and making a sword, his face was all red from the heat. When she asked him what he was doing he said " A man saved my life last week Hibiki, I am making him a sword, this sword will represent how much I value my life, it will reflect my gratitude and love for my life". That probably was how he befriended Amano Hyo in the first place.

She let a sad deep cry as tears filled her eyes, her father loved life, and he loved work. He always put his heart into his hammer. In some weird way, the two swords that were clashing in front of her, represented the life and death of her father. Amano's sword was in gratitude for life, and the black sword was behind his mysterious death. She just couldn't let that dark man carry the last blade her father made.

" ha ha ha " Setsuna laughed a weak laugh as he stood up between broken chairs and tables." You're good, you should take that compliment to your grave; for no stick nor blade shall help you now". Even behind this cool exterior, Setsuna felt anxiety, probably even fear. It was strange; he was always the source of fear. But this was no joke; this pathetic wounded adversary was giving him trouble, not to mention that he now wielded a sword. Setsuna simply couldn't let them take his sword, he couldn't let them send him back to the darkness he came from; they couldn't send him back to Hades, NEVER.

Setsuna looked at the young girl "Listen small fry, you say your father made this blade". He raised the black sword; it seemed as if it was made of emptiness. " Let me tell you, your father worked the metal, but I brought the ore from the insides of hell. You see, this sword was born with me! For you to claim it was your father's makes me sick, this sword was not made for mortals". The girl was silently crying and looking at him, she hated him but she felt helpless to do anythihg about it. The look of defeat on her face was a look Setsuna cherished on the face of mortals. He continued " Your father knew that the metal I brought him was dangerous, that it was probably going to kill him. But, his weakness and desire to create a masterpiece like no other mortal has made before urged him to do it. He just loved working that metal more than he loved his pitiful life. As he worked, the sword was absorbing his soul, and he felt it! But his will was too weak; he was just a simple pathetic creature". He looked at her ferociously "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO HAVE THIS SWORD". Setsuna then lowered his tone. "I was just a customer who wanted a unique sword. This sword feasts on the souls of mortals like you. It will sustain my existence in your world. So come meet your death, your existence should mean something after all."

Hibiki was confused by all she heard, was this man truly a demon? She knew he was a villain, but she didn't know that demons could be so good looking. She hated him, it was the first time she hated a person. What he said about her father left her angry and hurt. How could he speak so about her dead father? Her father wasn't perfect, but he was a good honest man. She then felt contempt for her own self, because she felt so helpless, she knew that her opponent was too strong for her. Maybe she should die, the way things were going, it seemed like she might. She couldn't stop the flow of tears on her face, she felt as pathetic as the evil man has described her.

Setsuna returned his look to Amano, their eyes met. Setsuna changed his fighting stance; he had his hand covering most of his face. There was an invisible chilling smile on his face. "You are afraid because you're going to die, I can feel your fear, as much as you try to hide it. But there's no use if you keep the act, you will die".

Amano knew that this man was evil, probably a demon based on what he said about hell. Yet he wasn't a liar. What he said about Hibiki's father was true. What he said about him being afraid was true as well. Part of him wanted to dash out the open door and run for his life. But there was his ego, his pride holding him, giving him courage. And there was Hibiki, he couldn't run and leave her alone.

Time to be intuitive; Amano always came up with something to turn a fight to his advantage when he needed it the most. He knew that the usual taunts will not be affective any more. Suddenly he paid attention to the man's bird, it was right there standing on a chair and looking silently at its master, and Amano reacted quickly. He dashed towards the bird so quickly. Setsuna was caught by surprise " NO! ". The bird took flight but Amano was so fast and in a moment his sword sang in the air spilling blood, feathers and sakura petals.

Amano prepared for the next step, he was going to use the shock on the bastard's face now. He ran quickly towards him screaming "YAAAAH!" and his sword was so quick and so precise, the goal was to behead his opponent, And he would have succeeded if he wasn't struck by hazy lightning. Amano was paralyzed, he couldn't move.

Setsuna was holding his sword in some kind of ritual screaming in bloodlust, dark electricity surrounded him; it saved him from losing his head to Amano's sword. He lost his only companion, but he was focused on the task at hand, this was the moment he enjoyed the most. Now revenge was going to be even sweater. He held Amano with one hand; he was going to enjoy it.

Hibiki ran forward, so far she respected Amano's wish and didn't intervene, but now she knew that if nothing is done, Amano was a goner. Gone were her feelings of defeat and loathing, she was pushed by her sense of duty and caring. She ran towards setsuna trying to cut him down, but she hit an invisible wall. It wasn't a wall however, she touched it with her hand, it was a transparent mirror of some kind. She tried from another side, but the same thing happened. Looks like the whole area around Setsuna was surrounded by mirrors. She tried to break them with the back of her sword but that was useless. She looked on with pleading desperate wet eyes.

She saw Setsuna raising a mirror out of nothingness between him and Amano. Amano was stunned; invisible powers were shaking his body. She saw Setsuna passing his hand through the mirror as if there was no mirror in the first place. She gasped as she saw Setsuna's hand passing through the chest of Amano as if reaching his heart. Again, there was no resistance; it seemed as if both men were in another place, another existence. She couldn't hear the murmurs of Setsuna as he spoke, she could not hear the gasps of Amano, she could only hear silence and her inner notion of helplessness.

The pain was immeasurable for Amano, this bastard was pulling on his soul, it felt very uncomfortable to say the least. His body was shaking uncontrollably and his vision was fading and returning, like he was living and dying multiple times. Slowly he was passing away. The pain was unbearable, and whenever his vision faded and returned he saw The bastard smiling in a wicked insane smile as he pulled and pulled. He was going to die, but he wasn't seeing his whole life passing before him as a visiting foreigner once told him while they drank, he suspected that was a punch of bull when he heard it, although it was romantic which is why he probably believed in it before. Instead, all he was seeing was his murderer smiling, his eyes filled with insanity. This wasn't how he planned to die, he always thought he would die in the arms of his future bride kissing him and crying for him. It would be a waste to die right now, for there were so many women out there for him to entertain, there were so many adventures to go thorough. He realized that he didn't want to die this way, not in the arms of this maniac.

This realization gave him power, he felt his drained strength going back through his arms. His fear turned into vigor. He grabbed the man's stealing hand with both hands and saw his smile morph into a shocked look, this made Amano smile himself. He glared at the dark man as he yelped in pain when Amano twisted his hand forcing him to let go. Their faces almost touched as Amano told him "NOT YET!". The bastard was in shock and exclaimed "CAN'T BE!!". Amano twisted his arm further and threw the bastard over his back, the man flew like a doll and crashed between the tables and chairs, the mirrors around the two men broke at the same time.

Amano stood shakily then fell to his knees, this sure wasn't fun. Hibiki rushed towards him and supported his weight. He felt that all his strength was drained. Getting his soul almost snatched away wasn't a thrilling experience, he felt really lucky.

Amano: " I can't fight anymore, it's all yours kid". Hibiki was concerned for Amano " Don't worry, leave it all to me". She looked to see the sliver haired man getting up and dusting off his clothes, gone was his sinister smile replaced by a look filled with rage. She moved away from Amano to keep him safe from the continuing battle.

Setsuna ran towards Hibiki, he planned to finish this once and for all. The gay freak was on his four panting, he was over. He just had to finish the little girl and finish the freak later.

Amano looked and saw that Hibiki went into a quiet trance, she had her eyes closed, she probably was concentrating her inner strength for some attack she trained in. She was dumb, she never learned anything from their training, he always told her not to take her eyes away from her opponent unless she knew he/she wasn't gonna attack. But the evil bastard was going to attack, he was lightning fast, in fact, he was already standing in front of her, he was going to cut her in half unless Amano did something, but he lacked the strength. In a desperate act, he threw his saki bottle to hit his target on the head. His action made the desired reaction; it stopped the evil bastard from cutting down Hibiki. But unless the brat stops sleeping, she was a goner. He could only watch now.

Setsuna cursed as the bottle hit him on the head, he lost his cool, he wanted those two souls now more than ever. He ignored the pain and raised his sword again gathering dark infernal energies. He was going to erase this girl from existence. The fool was closing her eyes, maybe she gave up. He didn't like his pray easy, but this time he was going to make an exception. He screamed in victorious rage "YAAAAAGH". But before his slash began its path, the girl opened her eyes, she looked him right in the eyes and she swung with great ferocity and speed, she was so quick. Setsuna knew he lost, he didn't know his end was going to come on this weak girl's sword, the irony of it all. She cut deep and wide diagonally across the full length of his torso, from waist to shoulder.

Hibiki and Amano watched, they couldn't help but feel terror as they saw the evil man crying in pain and stagerring, his wound gushed blood, so much of it, and after the blood he emitted darkness. It was the first time in their lives that they see darkness coming out of a source, beams of darkness came out of his wound. The beams of blackness were cutting through the light and obscured any object they fell on. The darkness was covering their vision. Then after almost a minute of screaming and darkness, it was gone. They only saw blood all over the floor, the destruction of the finished battle and the black sword.

Amano looked at Hibiki then he rested on his back, he was completely drained " The restaurant's owner will not be happy". He laughed and was stopped short by the pain of his wounds "Aw Aw!".

Hibiki leaned Amano's head on her thigh, she was concerned, "Don't talk".

After a long silence, Amano looked at her a look full of gratitude, "You did it, you saved my butt". He felt some shame to say this; his ass was saved by a girl. It was supposed to be the other way around. His pride was wounded but to hell with his pride, right now, he was just happy to be alive .

Hibiki was taken aback by this show of gratitude, but she was really pleased with it. She couldn't help but smile. She felt the emotional bond between her and Amano getting stronger. This battle made them closer somehow.

It was a little while longer before the authorities arrived lead by Kojiroh. He was persisting that the silvered haired man had a double bladed weapon and that he was insane. Hibiki told him that he had a black sword and he was handsome, and he thought that she was insane because he said that the silver haired man was the ugliest man in existence and that he wasn't as tall as they described, though he agreed the man had dark skin. They did this while Amano was yelping with pain as he was being patched, but he was going to be ok. The restaurant's owner kept crying above him cursing Amano and his own bad fortunes, all in all, it was a big ruckus for a while after the battle.

Later that night, as Amano slept, Hibiki held the black sword and she felt dread. She felt that the sword was doing something to her. She wanted to embrace it because she felt its power, and she could feel her father spirit in it. However, she decided it wasn't a good idea. She put it in its scabbard and tried to sleep. She couldn't sleep well that night, all she could think about was whether she should bury the sword near her father or keep it for herself.

Meanwhile, as the wind whistled across the cracks in the wooden walls of a small house in a farm in the outskirts of town, Setsuna looked below his feet to see his reflection on a pool of blood, and the dead bodies of the couple whose souls barely sustained his existence in this world. They offered pathetic resistance, they were pathetic farmers. His owl was week, but he managed to save it as well, for its existence was based on his own. He needed to get his sword back; he felt his existence threatened without it. He also had to get revenge, and he learned not to underestimate his opponents anymore. The guardian of Seiryu and the other guardians will have to wait; all other plans were on hold. He was going to exact vengeance, and he was not going to be satisfied until he sees the blood of those two thieves running under his feet like the two underneath him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I hope that was enjoyable: Notes: 1) Feel free to email me with your opinions and criticism but be gentle.

2) Compiling this writing has taken a lot of work, believe it or not. I thought it was much easier to write a fic. But there are so many things to consider, from estimating characters' behavior and speech to the simple text editing.

3) Therefore, DO NOT distribute this fic unless you give full credit to the author, that's me AND link to my last blade page You can ignore this if you are a thief, or simply impolite with little dignity and weak moral values.

4) Most of the paragraphs are described through one of the main characters of this story.

5) In case you haven't played the last blade 2 or don't know what it is, it is a game by SNKPlaymore on the Neogeo

console and was ported to the dreamcast too. Here is a little description of the main characters of our story :-

A) Amano Hyo: A great swordsman wielding a cane, however he is playful and drinks a lot

. B) Hibiki: A sweet little girl who learned the art of the sword, her father was probably the best swordsmith in Japan, he

died mysteriously after a visit by a dark man, he made a sword for him. Her father last will was for Hibiki to retrieve the sword.

C) Setsuna: A mysterious man who seems to only exist for the pleasure of killing.


End file.
